Synopses & Reviews
On a hot July day in 1361, 1,300 poorly armed men stood their ground to defend their city of Wisby against the pressure of King Waldemar. Unfortunately, the defenders were slaughtered. It was three days before the besieged city capitulated and the defenders were finally able to come out to bury the dead. Putrifying in the hot sun, pits were dug in the peat bogs and the bodies hurriedly cast in and buried. In the 1920s, Bengt Thordeman and a team of archeologists excavated at the site of the burial and produced a work that has stood the test of time. The 900+ photographs and illustrations record in great detail the coat of plate cote armours, brigandine finger gauntlets, dress accessories and wound pathology for many of the victims.Reproduced for the first time since 1939 with a new introduction by Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction author Brian R. Price, this elegantly printed single volume version of the original 2 volumes is a must for any library on medieval knighthood, arms and armour, archeology or warfare.
Synopsis
On 27th July 1361 a violent battle took place between the King of Sweden and the defenders of the city of Welsby on the Swedish island of Gotland. The Welsby army was slaughtered and the combatants, mostly peasants, were buried in huge pits, still in their outdated armour. Originally published in 1939 in two volumes, this is a one-volume reprint of Thordeman's important study, long out of print, of the battle, the human remains and the artefacts. Fully illustrated throughout, the volume provides a vivid and meticulously detailed record of battle wound pathology and early 14th-century armour. Includes a new introduction by Brian R Rice.
Synopsis
Thordeman's work is cited in virtually every bibliography on the subject of arms and armour and used as a key source for the dating of medieval coins and artefacts.
The Battle of Wisby, at which 1,800 hastily assembled peasants gathered in vain to defend their city from the onslaught of Waldemar of Denmark, is perhaps the most celebrated medieval battle in Scandinavia, and yet were it not for the mass graves of the defenders it would be all but unknown to Western students of medieval history. The peat bog in which the bodies were hurriedly buried after days in the hot sun preserved not only bones but also harness and accoutrements, leaving what is without doubt the most important archaeological record for the period. Published originally in 1939, Bengt Thordeman's work has been cited in virtually every bibliography on the subject of arms and armour and used as a key source for the dating of medieval coins. Long out of print, continually in demand, this new edition combines the original two volumes; a new introduction places the work in context.